Chinese energy sector worker Mandy Li likes to treat herself to a luxury brand handbag once in a while. But since her state-owned employer cut her wage by 10% and the properties her family owns lost half their value, she only buys second-hand ones. “I’m cutting down on large expenditures,” said 28-year-old Li, while browsing … Read more
“What the market is doing now is waiting for those details. Are we going to get some significant fiscal action in other words because the issue of the Chinese economy here is weak consumer spending, weak consumer confidence, and of course a very soft property market,” says Geoff Dennis, Independent EM CommentatorOne of the big … Read more
Beijing: China’s home sales rose during the National Day holiday after a string of property stimulus measures to boost the country’s beleaguered real estate market since late September, state media said on Saturday. Across the world’s second-largest economy, policies including reductions in down-payment ratios and mortgage rates have been introduced this year to support the … Read more
BEIJING: Chinese policymakers will likely step up measures to at least help the economy meet an increasingly challenging growth target for 2024, analysts and policy advisers say, with a sharper focus on boosting demand to fight persistent deflationary pressures. Official data showed the world’s second-largest economy slowed broadly in August, fuelling expectations for more stimulus. … Read more
The night before China’s civil service exam, Melody Zhang anxiously paced up and down the corridor of her dormitory, rehearsing her answers. Only when she got back to her room did she realise she had been crying the whole time. Zhang was hoping to start a career in state propaganda after more than 100 unsuccessful … Read more
Base metals prices retreated from their January highs as Chinese economic woes threatened the demand from the world’s largest commodity consumer. Fears of excess supplies and the US Fed’s rate hike policies also added pressure on prices throughout the period. In the benchmark LME platform, prices of the most used industrial commodities like copper and … Read more
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for patience in a speech released as the ruling Communist Party tries to reverse a deepening economic slump and said Western countries are “increasingly in trouble” because of their materialism and “spiritual poverty.” File | Photo Credit: AP China’s economy, the world’s second-largest, is now in deep distress and … Read more
China’s yuan fell to the weakest level since November after a series of disappointing economic figures added to concern about the nation’s sputtering growth. The offshore yuan dropped as much as 0.5% Monday to 7.2927 per dollar. The currency has now tumbled about 5% this year, the worst performer in Asia after the yen. “People’s … Read more
Major global firms ranging from banks to chipmakers are taking a largely cautious stance on their China business amid a frail recovery at the world’s second-largest economy from a pandemic slowdown. Following are comments from firms on their China business during the latest reporting season: Procter & Gamble: The Tide detergent maker reported an overall … Read more
Beijing: China‘s recent economic indicators are providing contradictory signals about the recovery, raising doubts about the growth outlook and fuelling debate over whether Beijing needs to step up its stimulus. March data so far showed a surge in the services sector as consumers spend more on travel and restaurants now that Covid waves have eased. … Read more